Prof. Paola Ayala leads the Tailored Hybrid Structures research group within the Electronic Properties of Materials unit at the University of Vienna's Faculty of Physics, where she is a full professor. She previously held the prestigious Berta Karlik Named-Professorship after arriving as a Marie Curie Fellow of the European Union. Her distinguished international career spans multiple renowned institutions across three continents, including previous research positions at IFW-Dresden (Germany), PUC-Rio (Brazil), and Aalto University (Finland). From 2015 to 2017, she served as the inaugural Dean for Physics and Nanotechnology at Yachay-Tech University, an ambitious scientific institution in Latin America.

Prof. Ayala's exceptional research has earned numerous prestigious recognitions, including the EU Marie Curie Fellowship, the Matilde-Hidalgo Science Prize (2017), Future Leader recognition from the S&T Society Forum (2012, Kyoto, Japan), the Prometeo Grant, and a joint DAAD (Germany)/CNPq (Brazil) research grant. Beyond her research achievements, she demonstrates strong commitment to diversity and inclusion in academia, serving as the Physics representative for the Equal Opportunities Working Party at the University of Vienna and leading the Austrian team within the Working Group of Women in Physics of the International Union for Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP).

Her extensive service to the broader scientific community encompasses roles as a selection committee member for the Georg Foster Program (Humboldt Foundation, Germany), board review member for the Catalytic Materials/Surface Science Panel (Elettra Synchrotron, Italy), and editorial board member for both "Carbon Trends" (Elsevier) and the "Beilstein Journal of Nanotechnology" (Beilstein-Institut, Germany). Through these diverse roles, Prof. Ayala aims to contribute to shaping the international physics community while advancing cutting-edge research in materials science.